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05-30-2003, 03:37 PM
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#1 of 46 
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Unlimited discussion thread: Discs that have had their dynamics completely compressed
It had to be done...
1st place: Carlos Santana, Supernatural. Need I say more? Can an album be more compressed than this one?
Take it from here, friends 
Quid, me anxius sum?
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05-30-2003, 03:40 PM
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#2 of 46
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The last Rush CD was noted for this too, and even the CD layer of the new DSOTM SACD/CD hybrid has been "limited" more so than prior editions (in Stereophile this month).
The latest Red hot Chili Peppers is also "squashed" like this too.
IMO, who needs the crappy quality of MP-3, when you can just listen to a poorly mastered CD?
If it's not worth waiting until the last minute to do, then it's not worth doing.
KevinVision 7.1 ...
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05-30-2003, 03:47 PM
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#3 of 46
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How could I forget?
I happen to like the Pet Shop Boys. I love their music (and I hate dance & club music). I think Actually, Please, and Introspective are amazing works, while Behaviour captures them at their lyrical peak. The sonic quality of these albums is respectable, too.
But their last albums are so incredibly, amazingly, sickeningly distorted and compressed, they are basically unlistenable. It all started going down with Very, which happens to sound as if someone was shouting in your ear at all times, and it peaks with Nightlife, an *excellent* album that happens to have the most distorted sound ever captured on CD (IMHO). It's not so much peak-limited as completely clipped, from start to finish.
Quid, me anxius sum?
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05-30-2003, 04:53 PM
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#4 of 46
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Vapor Trails (Rush) is the first time that I listened to a CD and said to myself, "Damn, now this is really compressed." I don't have a great ear for this sort of thing, but even I noticed it. A shame, too- it masks a brilliantly written and performed album, which enables me to enjoy it despite the compression.
Fortunately, most of the new music I pick up isn't mainstream, so since the producers know it won't ever hit the radio, they don't smush the sound.
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05-30-2003, 05:08 PM
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#5 of 46
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Nick So
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Im fairly new to the technical audio stuff of music, but i got a question...
What does 'compression' sound like? And if it sonuds so bad, why do people still mix it so compressed?
Thanks
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05-30-2003, 06:35 PM
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#6 of 46
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Quote:
What does 'compression' sound like?
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I read an article in Stereophile (this month's issue) that describes compression in a great way.
THIS IS HOW A COMPRESSED RECORDING SOUNDS LIKE EVERYTHING IS EQUALLY LOUD AND THERE IS NO SENSE OF TEMPO OR DYNAMICS IT'S AS BORING AS BOTHERSOME AS READING THIS PARAGRAPH WITHOUT ANY EMPHASIS WHATSOEVER
The best example I can think of is definitely the Pet Shop Boys. Have you ever heard "New York City Boy"? That's exactly how compression sounds like. The trumpets, violins, drums and vocals have the same volume: the maximum one they could get into the CD. Supposedly, compression makes a CD sound "better" to FM listeners...
Quid, me anxius sum?
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05-30-2003, 06:44 PM
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#7 of 46
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If you want to know what compression sounds like, pick up a copy of Vapor Trails  . That's definitely the worst sounding CD I've ever heard, at least compression-wise. It's a shame, since the music is quite good... but the compression is so horrid that I can't convince myself to listen to it very often.
Supernatural isn't as bad as Vapor Trails, at least to my ears. |
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05-31-2003, 12:02 AM
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#8 of 46
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Mike B.: I agree! I still listen to a lot of indie and indie-like stuff, and thank my lucky stars, most of this stuff isn't that bad as far as limiting and compression go...
If it's not worth waiting until the last minute to do, then it's not worth doing.
KevinVision 7.1 ...
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05-31-2003, 02:42 AM
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#9 of 46
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05-31-2003, 07:51 AM
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#10 of 46
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I don't have the CD, but I've read many times that The Who My Generation Deluxe Edition two-disc set is | |
